Late summer is the season of ripe, juicy peaches, and while peach cobbler reigns supreme, I love a rustic, open-faced peach pie. It’s as easy to make as it is to eat - if you know how to handle your peaches. Keeping the top open slightly caramelizes the peaches on top, but you still get ooey gooey peach flavor underneath. For this pie, I like to leave the skins on so the peach slices hold their shape and it maintains a rustic look. You can make it in a springform tart pan for a smart presentation, or bake it in a pie pan for a classic summertime aesthetic.

Tips for Making a Rustic, Open-Faced Peach Pie

Preparing Peaches

The first few times I tried to bake with peaches were a soggy, never-ending nightmare. I didn’t know how to adequately cut them, so I was left with weird, uneven chunks and stones covered in about half the fruit!

Luckily, there’s a really easy way to cut peaches: simply run your knife in a circle along the natural seam of the peach, 🍑 and twist! The two halves will come apart beautifully and you can then pop the stone out of the remaining side. Et voilà: no wasted peach flesh. This works for any stone fruit: plums, apricots, nectarines, etc.

To peel peaches, you can either use a common vegetable peeler, or run the skin under hot water until it peels off easily. The hot water trick only works with very ripe peaches in my experience, but it’s worth it to avoid peach juice dripping into every corner of your kitchen. Honestly, for this pie I rarely peel the peaches, as it saves time, keeps some of the nutritional value intact, and I like the color variation the skins add.

Classic vs. Rustic Look

Aesthetically, there are a few ways to prepare this pie, and I’ll leave the interpretation up to you. For a clean, classic look, use a neatly trimmed crust and peach slices arranged in concentric circles. Kitchen shears are my preferred way to achieve a neat crustless look easily. Use a tart pan for an even more beautiful presentation.

For a rustic look, simply heap the peaches into the crust and even them out a little with your mixing spoon. Instead of trimming, crimping, or otherwise preparing your pie crust, simply fold the excess edges back into the center of the pie. It will look rugged and uneven, and the top crust should brown nicely.

If you like the rustic look but are using store-bought pie crust (no shame in that game - it’s a real time-saver!) thaw your frozen pie crust to chilled, then remove it from its pie plate and roll it out with a rolling pin to remove the machine-crimped edges. It’ll likely be a little uneven - that’s fine! It looks more bespoke that way.

How to Make an Open-Faced Peach Pie

Ingredients

6 large or 8 medium yellow or white peaches
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbs cold butter cut up into little pieces
1 pie crust, chilled
1 egg white (optional)
1 Tbs milk (optional)

Tools

Sharp knife
Vegetable peeler (optional)
Large mixing bowl
Medium mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
Rolling pin
Pie plate
Pastry brush (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut your peaches into 8 slices each and place in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the top.
In your medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour over peaches and mix until peaches are more or less evenly coated in the sugar mixture.
If needed, roll out pie crust and place into pie plate. Optional: mix together milk and egg white and brush over the interior of the pie crust; this can help keep the crust crisp under the fruit.
Dump the peaches into the pie crust. dot with the small pieces of chilled butter. If making a rustic crust, fold the edges of the pie crust over the top of the peaches. Brush with more egg whites and milk, if desired.
Bake for 50 minutes. The crust should be golden brown and the peaches will be bubbling in juice.
Let cool for a few minutes before topping with vanilla ice cream or eating straight up.

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Rustic, Open-Faced Peach Pie